Interview With
Vasil Enev
I’ve been working as a Freelance Graphic Designer for almost 6 years (I’m currently 21 years old). I started exploring the design industry really young because I’ve been always inspired by art and technology and seems like graphic design is the perfect match between both.
My biggest inspiration came first from drawing. Since a kid I’ve been inspired to draw all type of things and I really liked ‘to create’ in general.
Apart of high school, where I was studying Humanities and Academic Disciplines, which is a totally different subjects, I started to engage myself and learn graphic design. I started exploring image-retouching and drawing software and I felt like this was what I was looking for. In the beginning I started with creating projects for fun and helping friends with my skills, and when I saw the good feedback and their satisfaction of my work, I considered giving myself a chance to a different level. I was really inspired of all the trends and I’ve studied a lot about the techniques and rules of design in my free time. And there I found some great networks for design contests and I thought of giving it a try. This is what really helped me for the start of my design career, I could find my first clients and building great work relationships with different companies.
Apart of the fun and love for graphic design, there are many responsibilities regarding the techniques and details that needs to be taken under consideration. It really pays off if you don’t undervalue the principles of design.
Basically my creative process is made of huge research and brainstorming at the start of every project. I enjoy all type of projects that requires creativity combined with an artistic direction. I really like to work on creating brands’ identities and their strategy, because building a brand’s visual look is like making someone’s signature. It’s really important how the users reacts to the visual identity, because every identity needs to be memorable, and you can play with it, you can really push your limits and experiment on creating something unique. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have fun creating more interactive based products like web and app’s interfaces design. In web and app designs I like that there is a point of geometry that you can play with. And of course apart of that I also love working on projects for print and packaging, typography and iconography, illustrative and environmental graphics.
I love seeing the satisfaction and the good feedback from clients. It just feels like “mission accomplished” that the projects you are involved in are successfully finished and completed as a ready product. It’s just an achievement to see your works used and loved by client’s audience, and published by different online and press media, magazines and books as a “must see” creative project. This is what I define as success.
#25UNDER25 is a project to celebrate Adobe Photoshop’s 25th Anniversary in which 25 artists will make an art piece in their established style using their unique process.
I was very inspired of this campaign and in relation to that I created a special artwork combining custom 'cake-like' typography made in a three dimensional graphics with a movie cover inspired lights and effects. Colors and details is something I love and I believe design is based on those two things, so with this artwork I'm celebrating to their anniversary.
Happy Birthday Photoshop!
With the coffee I check my emails before starting the day, this is a step that never gets out of schedule, but my biggest problem in the beginning was managing my time. As a remote freelancer your job is engaged with your daily life and it was a straggle to combine them both. The simple solution I found is basically I had to schedule my daily time in a smart way so I could multitask between different projects, keep deadlines and give attention to every client. In the weekends I like to spend more time working on my portfolio and social media accounts, and of course spend quality time with friends and family.
Always take the first opportunities! Give yourself a chance in every direction and do not give up, no matter what! Even if you have a struggle and you don’t achieve the result you want, keep trying!
To all the designers I would say: You should always update your techniques and portfolio, and put effort in everything you do, but apart of that put your artist soul and creativity because design has a sense.
Design is a way of life and if you put the amount of attention and hard work it needs, it will pay off.
Thank you!
Vasil Enev